You hold that Islamist terrorists must necessarily have the (vaguely defined by you) motive of "provoking the US", when most Islamist attackers on the U.S. have consistently cited a particular political motive? [1] And yes, it would have been great if the U.S. government had treated "terrorism" as the law enforcement issue it is rather than starting convenient[2] wars. I recommend President of the CCR Michael Ratner's 2004 book "Guantanamo: What the World Should Know" for early treatment of the things being discussed in the comments here.

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/24/boston-...

[2] http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/18/david-f...